How to buy Costco Wholesale stock (COST)

Costco Wholesale (COST) is a leading discount stores business based in the US. It opened the day at $895.99 after a previous close of $891.22. During the day the price has varied from a low of $890.00 to a high of $895.99. The latest price was $890.96 (25 minute delay). Costco Wholesale is listed on the NASDAQ and employs 333,000 staff. All prices are listed in US Dollars.

Our top picks for where to buy Costco Wholesale stock

Buy Costco Wholesale stock from these online trading platforms

Compare special offers, low fees and a wide range of investment options among top trading platforms.

Paid non-client promotion. Finder does not invest money with providers on this page. If a brand is a referral partner, we're paid when you click or tap through to, open an account with or provide your contact information to the provider. Partnerships are not a recommendation for you to invest with any one company. Learn more about how we make money.

Finder is not an advisor or brokerage service. Information on this page is for educational purposes only and not a recommendation to invest with any one company, trade specific stocks or fund specific investments. All editorial opinions are our own.

Costco Wholesale stock price (NASDAQ: COST)

Use our graph to track the performance of COST stocks over time.

Costco Wholesale shares at a glance

• Live prices
• Key figures

Information last updated 2024-10-15.

Open	$892.09
High	$900.65
Low	$889.55
Close	$897.71
Previous close	$889.76
Change more info button	$7.95
Change % more info button	0.8935%
Volume more info button	372,136

Information last updated 2024-10-24.

52-week range	$528.20 - $923.83
50-day moving average more info button	$891.05
200-day moving average more info button	$801.57
Wall St. target price	$937.22
PE ratio more info button	54.0157
Dividend yield more info button	$4.36 (0.52%)
Earnings per share (TTM) more info button	$16.54

Is it a good time to buy Costco Wholesale stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Costco Wholesale price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $890.96 from 2024-10-25

1 week (2024-10-22)	-0.28%
1 month (2024-09-30)	0.50%
3 months (2024-07-30)	9.99%
6 months (2024-04-30)	23.25%

1 year (2023-10-30)	60.57%
2 years (2022-10-28)	80.53%
3 years (2021-10-29)	88.88%
5 years (2019-10-30)	210.54%

Is Costco Wholesale stock undervalued or overvalued?

Valuing Costco Wholesale stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Costco Wholesale's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Costco Wholesale's P/E ratio

Costco Wholesale's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 54x. In other words, Costco Wholesale shares trade at around 54x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Costco Wholesale's PEG ratio

Costco Wholesale's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 6.3501. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Costco Wholesale's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Costco Wholesale's EBITDA

Costco Wholesale's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $11.5 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Costco Wholesale's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Costco Wholesale financials

Revenue TTM	$254.5 billion
Operating margin TTM	3.82%
Gross profit TTM	$30.1 billion
Return on assets TTM	8.36%
Return on equity TTM	30.27%
Profit margin	2.9%
Book value	$53.31
Market Capitalization more info button	$395.9 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Costco Wholesale's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Costco Wholesale.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Costco Wholesale's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 24.32

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Costco Wholesale's overall score of 24.32 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 30th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Costco Wholesale is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Costco Wholesale's environmental score

Environmental score: 4.18/100

Costco Wholesale's environmental score of 4.18 puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Costco Wholesale is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Costco Wholesale's social score

Social score: 11.94/100

Costco Wholesale's social score of 11.94 puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Costco Wholesale is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Costco Wholesale's governance score

Governance score: 8.2/100

Costco Wholesale's governance score puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Costco Wholesale is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Costco Wholesale's controversy score

Controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Costco Wholesale scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Costco Wholesale hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Costco Wholesale Corp was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	24.32
Total ESG percentile	30.2
Environmental score	4.18
Environmental score percentile	3
Social score	11.94
Social score percentile	3
Governance score	8.2
Governance score percentile	3
Level of controversy	3

Costco Wholesale share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 27.51% of net profits

Recently Costco Wholesale has paid out, on average, around 0% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Costco Wholesale shareholders could enjoy a 0% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Costco Wholesale's case, that would currently equate to about $4.36 per share.

While Costco Wholesale's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Costco Wholesale may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

Costco Wholesale's most recent dividend payout was on 8 August 2024. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 31 October 2024 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Costco Wholesale's shares ever split?

Costco Wholesale's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 13 January 2000 . So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Costco Wholesale shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Costco Wholesale shares which in turn could have impacted Costco Wholesale's share price.

Costco Wholesale share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Costco Wholesale's shares have ranged in value from as little as $528.1988 up to $923.8299. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Costco Wholesale's is 0.787. This would suggest that Costco Wholesale's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Costco Wholesale overview

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. It offers merchandise, such as sundries, dry groceries, candies, coolers, freezers, deli, liquor, and tobacco; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, lawn and garden, sporting goods, tires, toys and seasonal products, office supplies, automotive care products, postages, tickets, apparel, small appliances, furniture, domestics, housewares, special order kiosks, and jewelry; and meat, produce, service deli, and bakery products. The company also operates gasoline, pharmacies, optical, food courts, hearing-aid centers, and tire installation centers; and offers business delivery, travel, grocery, and various other services online. It also operates e-commerce websites. The company was formerly known as Costco Companies, Inc. and changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999.

Frequently asked questions

null
What percentage of Costco Wholesale is owned by insiders or institutions?
Currently 0.189% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by insiders and 71.847% by institutions. How many people work for Costco Wholesale?
Latest data suggests 333,000 work at Costco Wholesale. When does the fiscal year end for Costco Wholesale?
Costco Wholesale's fiscal year ends in August. Where is Costco Wholesale based?
Costco Wholesale's address is: 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA, United States, 98027 What is Costco Wholesale's ISIN number?
Costco Wholesale's international securities identification number is: US22160K1051 What is Costco Wholesale's CUSIP number?
Costco Wholesale's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 74143W102